Rice & Fries at Changi Road, Singapore

Let's face it. Carbs is awesome. Yes, too much carbs can increase your blood sugar level, make you gain weight and a lot more negative health effects but if you look at the positive side, we can't totally do away without carbs because this is where we get our energy to go about our routine and tasks every single day. So, it's not really a matter of saying no to carbs but it's about being wise and choosing the right carbs and taking in just the right amount too.

So enough about my health and fitness talk and let me talk about FOOD. When it comes to carbs, it's no secret how much I love rice. It may be a psychological thing but I always have to have rice especially during lunch time. More so when I know that I'll be working out later in the day then I need rice to keep me going. Sometimes I would try to eat healthy and go with a bowl of salad or a thin piece of sandwich but who am I kidding, right? I know that I will end up snacking after 3 hours. So, when Paul and I got an invite to visit a restaurant in the East called Rice & Fries, we immediately said yes despite knowing that we will be traveling to the opposite side of the country for dinner. With a restaurant named like that, we're pretty sure that the distance traveled will be worth it.

Rice & Fries, apparently, has been around for a couple of years already. It's located very near the residential area near the Kembangan MRT station. It wasn't difficult to spot the restaurant as we've been to this side of town to attend our company's Deepavali party last year. It's a nice neighborhood cafe where families and teenagers can hang out.



Our meal began with a bowl of Mushroom Cappuccino Soup (S$6.80) which Paul and I opted to just share. The serving was quite big given that we ordered quite a lot but if you're there for just one entree then perhaps order the soup just for yourself. I have to say that the soup was really good. I love the faint aroma of truffle oil and the tiny chunks of mushroom bits that we got in every spoonful. It's served with a couple of garlic bread which was also pretty decent too.

Moving on, we had the Spam Bots (S$9.80) which I can boldly say is one of the best that I've tried so far. Who doesn't love Spam right? This one was sliced into strips and coated in a light breading before deep-frying it to perfection. Served with salted egg yolk dip, this is definitely one delicious yet sinful snack or starter that I highly recommend for you all to try. It has been months since our last visit and I would get occasional daydreams about their delicious Spam Bots.

For our main dishes, we got the Grilled Salmon Steak (S$18.80) which was a juicy piece of grilled salmon fillet that's drizzled with lemon butter sauce and served with garlic butter rice. I'm telling you, Rice & Fries is all about giving your taste buds a treat. Their dishes are so full of flavor and it's definitely not the place if you want it bland and healthy. Then again, we live once, right? So live a little and enjoy this dish at Rice & Fries. I was quite impressed at how tender and fresh the salmon was. Of course, I really enjoyed this with the rice. After all, butter garlic rice goes with basically anything and everything, agree?

As if we didn't had enough of the salted egg yolk dip that came with the Spam Bots, we also tried the Salted Egg Yolk Prawn Pasta which was yumm-o! Al dente pasta noodles cooked in thick and creamy salted egg sauce together with a couple of deep-fried prawns. I somehow felt though that the salted egg yolk sauce here was milder in flavor as compared to the one with the Spam Bots but then again maybe the Chef decided to tone it down else it might get too rich to be fully enjoyed. The prawn serving was quite few though, would have loved more of the deep-fried prawn which is a good contrast to the creamy texture of the pasta.

We could have stopped at having two entrees but we were told that the Rice & Fries Signature Lamb Shank (S$28.80) was to-die-for. Given that, how can we give that a miss right? Unfortunately, I clearly didn't die on my first bite nor on my second or third bite. The lamb was very tender but I find the sauce to be a bit on the salty side. It also didn't helped that it came with fettuccine pasta which doesn't really help absorb the flavor. Perhaps if they served it with the same butter garlic rice similar to the salmon, then it would might have made it better. It wasn't bad but it's probably not one that I'd order again on my next visit.

For dessert, we had the Dark Chocolate Lava Cake (S$9.80) which was a-okay. It's your typical molten lava cake which chocoholics will surely love.

Thankfully, we really enjoyed our meal at Rice & Fries and yes, it was definitely worth the travel. I can't wait to go back to have more of their Spam Bots and Grilled Salmon too!

*photos by Paul Ang

Lucky foodies from the East should visit Rice & Fries at 484 Changi Road, Singapore 419896. Give them a call at 6445-6390/9738-6648. Follow them on Facebook too!